


all at once (you are the one i have been waiting for)

by scandinavian_punk



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Best Friends, F/F, Friends to Lovers, This took a while to write, i dont know if i even like the ending, i got stuck with the ending, mention of breakup, this is step one to creating more fics for jelle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:01:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29029134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scandinavian_punk/pseuds/scandinavian_punk
Summary: the lights are out. roads are flooded. jj and elle are stuck at jj’s apartment due to a thunderstorm. what secrets will be revealed when these two friends are alone in the dark?
Relationships: Elle Greenaway/Jennifer "JJ" Jareau
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	all at once (you are the one i have been waiting for)

**Author's Note:**

> memories are in italics

A pair of women ran across the fresh wet lawn from a car parked in the distance, a few feet away from the apartment building. Giggles could be heard clearly from across the road. They skipped up the small steps and reached the entrance. Under the porch roof, the blonde shook her head like a wet dog, while the brunette attempted to dry her hair with her cold hands. The friends entered the building, working their way up to the blonde’s apartment, all while causing a commotion within the hallways. JJ haphazardly took out her keys from her baby blue raincoat and unlocked her apartment door. She took off her jacket and hung it on the antique coat hanger, with her muddy hiking boots by the door.

“Sorry… uh- make yourself at home,” JJ said. “I’ll grab some towels from the linen closet.”

“Yeah sure,” Elle responded while observing the apartment. Inside, was a home fit for a young career woman. Clean minimalist furniture. Books and academic papers were sprawled across the cheap Scandinavian coffee table. A few coffee mugs were scattered around the living room. A blue blanket sprawled across the cushions of the sofa. The same blanket that Elle bought for JJ on one special Christmas. 

The brunette shook her head, thinking that it was typical of JJ to keep her place slightly messy. She was brought out of her thoughts when a soft cotton towel was presented to her. 

“Thanks, JJ,” Elle said as she tried to dry her hair. The blonde nodded happily as she tried her best to drain water from her hair with another towel in her hand. 

“Want something to drink?” JJ asked as she walked into her small kitchen. 

“Just some water,” Elle called out. The brunette flopped onto the couch, feeling tired from the day. A minute went by and JJ came back with two glasses filled with water. Elle thanked the blonde when she was given the glass. 

“Want to take a shower?” JJ asked innocently. Elle slightly choked on the water. 

“Wh- what?” 

“A shower. Because you must feel cold from the rain we ran through earlier.” JJ softly laughed at Elle’s outburst. The brunette grumbled.

“Yeah. I’ll take one. Only because I know you’ll make me if I refuse,” Elle said as she got up and made her way to the bathroom. Once the showerhead noises were heard, JJ went to her room to pick out some clothes to share. Once she changed, the blonde knocked on the bathroom door, with a sweatshirt and shorts in hand. Sounds of the shower went by, and Elle opened the door, in a towel and all dewy from the hot steam. A peach blush appeared on JJ’s cheeks, barely noticed by the brunette. In their long years of friendship, JJ hadn’t felt like this about her best friend until eight months ago. 

“Thanks.” Elle took the clothes from JJ’s hand and shut the door. The clang from the now-closed door took the blonde out of her thoughts. Taking a deep breath, JJ walked away from the bathroom door. As she passed by a window, onto her way to the living room, her eyes took a peek to see how the weather had been. It had gotten worse. Dark clouds rolled in quickly and the rain got heavier, with the low rumblings of thunder playing songs in the sky. An idea struck JJ’s mind. _I should get some candles from the cabinet, in case of a power outage._ Arriving at her destination, JJ raided the closet and found her soy candles. As she placed them aside for later, Elle came in from her shower.

“Hey. What are those for?” Elle asked.

“Since the weather is getting worse, I decided to be more prepared. Better to be safe than sorry.” JJ said as she also pulled out a few blankets. 

“Since we don’t have anywhere else to go, wanna just Netflix and chill?” Elle proposed. JJ raised an eyebrow at the brunette’s wording.

“ _Just_ Netflix and chill? Ha- you could have worded that differently,” JJ said. Elle shrugged and grabbed the remote. The blonde sat next to her friend, making the both of them comfortable with the heavy blanket she brought. For the rest of the afternoon, both Elle and JJ watched one Studio Ghibli movie after another.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

As the evening went by, the weather got worse. The rain beat down harder on the asphalt. Trees swayed along with the hard wind. Rolling thunderous sounds moved closer to the area with each passing minute. This was one of the worst thunderstorms this town had ever experienced. 

The power went out during the second hour of watching Netflix. In the dark, both Elle and JJ worked their way around the blonde’s apartment, taking out every electrical plug to prevent any accidents. After that job was done, JJ went into the kitchen while Elle started to fold the large blanket they were once under. After the brunette finished, she sat by the window on the leather loveseat, watching the storm rage across the sky. She turned on her phone to the radio, weather reports about the storm softly playing. 

“When do you think this is gonna let up?” JJ asked, coming up behind Elle with two mugs filled with water. Elle took a mug and whispered a soft  _ thank you _ . 

“Well, from what the news is telling us, it’s going to be a long night of heavy rain and strong wind,” JJ said as she stared out of the window. Elle sat next to her friend and placed her chin on JJ’s left shoulder. Silence occupied the living room. The pitter-patter of the rain against the windows created music that filled the air. The orange light from the candles set a soft ambiance. Quiet. Peaceful.

“Seems like I won’t make it home tonight,” Elle joked.

“You don’t even have your car here! Besides, the roads are flooded and there are trees blocking said roads,” JJ said, pouting at the brunette’s silly little joke. 

“Sorry.” Elle softly smiled. The sounds of laughter rang away, being replaced by silence again. A few minutes went by and JJ got struck with an idea. 

“I have something fun for us to do!” JJ said.

“And what’s that?” Elle asked.

“We should make a blanket fort,” JJ said, smiling from her plan. “It’ll be fun! Taking away some of the sadness from the thunderstorm.” 

Elle nodded in agreement and the two women started working on the pillow fort. The brunette started by getting the kitchen chairs to build the framework while the blonde looked for more blankets. JJ grabbed her largest white cotton bedsheet as the initial cover. 

“Elle, help me with putting this sheet on.” JJ said. Her brunette friend nodded her head and the two women tried their best to gently drape the sheet over the four dining chairs. 

“Oh shit. I forgot to get the clothespins.” JJ left the sheet and speed-walked to her small linen closet to gather as many pins she needed. With a handful of some wooden clothespins in her hands, JJ came back to the living room and shared some of the pins with Elle to get the bedsheet draped properly. After the first sheet, the blonde picked a colorful paisley-printed sheet to decorate over the white bedsheet. Both the women worked their way to pin the sheets carefully together and onto the chairs. 

“Didn’t know you liked floral patterns.” Elle teased JJ, who typically prided herself to be more of a “tomboy”. 

“Shut up.” JJ playfully punched Elle’s right shoulder. The brunette chuckled from the light punch. 

After the main structure was built, JJ filled the inside with a plethora of pillows and blankets. With a thick plaid blanket as the foundation, the blonde piled on two more to provide a soft space to sit. Elle grabbed the fuzzy blue blanket off from the couch, so she and JJ could cuddle together with it. Scents of  honey and milky french vanilla wafted throughout the living room, reminiscent of untamed yet peaceful meadows of the French countryside.  The lit candles glowed against the roof, the paisley patterns being well seen enough to be traced. 

Both the women smiled at their creation and entered the little fort. Elle sighed contently as she flopped onto the mountain of pillows. Meanwhile, JJ sat with her chin on her knee. Feeling unsatisfied, the blonde went out of the fort and went to search for something to drink. The coldness from the kitchen tiles clashed against the warmth from JJ’s feet. Opening a cabinet that was leveled to the floor, JJ crouched and looked at the different wines she had in her collection. 

“Whatcha getting?” Elle asked loudly.

“Some wine, because why not,” JJ said as she was deciding on which bottle to choose. 

“Oh.”

JJ came back to the fort, where Elle sat at the entrance, with a twist-off red Bordeaux wine bottle and two wine glasses in her hands. The blonde handed one of the wine glasses to the brunette and twisted off the closure of the glass bottle, filling both eh glasses halfway with the aged wine.

Both laid on their backs, drank wine, and talked the evening away. From arguing about who would win the next Super Bowl to debating their interpretation of Plato's _Republic_ , the two friends started to reminisce about the journey that took them to where they are now. 

“Hey… Remember our college graduation trip down the California coast?” Elle asked. JJ thought for a few seconds. A smile appeared on her warm ivory face. 

“Yeah… I do.” A soft smile appeared on the blonde’s face as she started to remember the fond memory. 

_ The blue fire crackled as Elle added a few pieces of salty driftwood to make the bonfire warmer. The brunette went back to sit on the large colorful towel next to her best friend.  _

_ “Can’t believe we graduated college,” JJ said as she stared at the night sky. Elle nodded in agreement. “Now we can start our lives. Who knows what will bring.” The blonde rested her head onto the brunette’s shoulder, taking in the scenery of the multiple constellations shining in the night sky. _

_ “Hey, Elle… do you think we’re still gonna be friends? After we go our separate ways?” _

_ “I know we will,” Elle responded. _

_ “You better stay in touch.” JJ playfully punched Elle’s ribs. Elle laughed from the weak punch. _

_ “Don’t worry,” Elle looked at JJ. “I don’t plan on going off the grid anytime soon.” The blonde huffed in annoyance. Elle chuckled lightheartedly. After a while, the crashing of the ocean waves filled the air as the two recent college graduates stargazed for the rest of the night.  _

“Oh! How about the time you helped me get through a breakup with that New Orleans guy?”

“I remember that,” Elle sighed. “Thank God you’re not in that relationship anymore.”

_ The blonde cried into the shoulder of her best friend as she hugged the brunette. Elle rubbed circles on JJ’s back to calm her down. The three-year relationship that made JJ so happy now made her so heartbroken.  _

_ Elle tried to comfort her friend during the breakup for the past six weeks. She wanted JJ to know that she was more deserving of someone who would treat her better. No more wasting time and tears over someone who did not care about her in the first place.  _

_ “JJ, you’re better off without him. Better yet, you deserve better.” Elle said. The blonde sniffled and wiped her tears away. Elle smiled as her friend sat up straight. JJ slowly realized there were other people in the world, and she was more deserving of someone who would treat her better.  _

_ “You know what?” JJ said as she looked at Elle. “You are right. I can’t sit and mope around, waiting for something to happen. I need to take charge and show who is boss.” _

_ “You mean girlboss?” Elle asked, with a smirk on her face. JJ laughed. _

_ “Yeah… girlboss.” _

“Thanks to you, Elle. I am happy to be single for a year and a half.” JJ said while holding up her wine glass, pretending to take a toast. Elle laughed at her little gesture. 

Feeling slightly chilly, JJ pulled her blanket closer to her body, her fingers feeling the softness of the fabric.

“Remember the Christmas that we spent together?: JJ asked. 

“Yeah.” Elle felt amused as the soft blue blanket in her hand was reminiscent of the time they spent the holidays together. 

“And you gave me this blanket. The best present anyone could have given me.” JJ stated. Elle lifted one of her eyebrows.

“Really?” Elle asked, with a hint of joy in her voice. JJ nodded. 

_ Elle handed one last present to JJ. The box was neatly wrapped with a gingerbread man-themed decorating paper with a pine green bow. A small envelope was also underneath the ribbon.  _

_ “Open it.” Elle said, feeling excited about the present she got for her best friend. The blonde giggled, placed the envelope on the coffee table, and nicely unwrapped the present. Inside was a deep blue blanket. But it wasn’t just any blanket. It was Elle’s and there was a small monogram with JJ’s name embroidered on in gold.  _

_ “Now you can stop stealing this blanket from me whenever you come over to my place.” Elle explained.  _

_ Tears formed in the blonde’s cobalt eyes. JJ smiled and gave a tight hug to the brunette.  _

_ “Thank you, Elle.”  _

After a while, having a conversation tired their voices. Instead, they sat in silence comfortably. JJ turned her head to face Elle, who had her eyes closed. The blonde took this time to take in the beautiful sight in front of her. 

The soft golden glow from the candles highlighted Elle’s olive-toned skin. Her chocolate brown locks perfectly framed her face. The fringe of her bangs fell into her equally beautiful deep amber eyes. She looked good in the grey sweatshirt that she borrowed that evening. JJ’s heart beat faster the more she stared at the beautiful brunette next to her. As far as she knew, Jennifer Jareau was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with Elle Greenaway. 

The brunette opened her eyes, as she felt like someone was watching her. 

“Hey,” JJ said.

“Hey,” Elle replied. 

“Had a nice nap?”

“Ha- very funny, Jareau.” Elle playfully slapped the blonde’s shoulder. A few seconds of silence went by before JJ posed a question. 

“Wanna play 21 questions?” JJ asked.

“We already know each other, silly.” 

“It’s just for fun. What else can we do when the power is out?” 

“True. You ask the first question,” Elle said. And so, JJ asked the first question. A simple one. _What would your dream house look like?_

Elle chuckled, knowing that her friend already knew the answer, and responded. This went back and forth between the two women. Until they hit the last number. 21.

JJ took a deep breath and exhaled in nervousness, as it was her turn for the final question. 

“What do you wish for in life?”

Elle paused. The silent wait fueled JJ’s anxiety. 

“I just want a girl who loves me. The authentic me,” Elle said. The brunette turned her head to face the blonde, who was nervously biting her lips. “And to live with her in an apartment in a city, with a few plants and maybe a cat.” 

JJ looked at Elle with loving eyes. To her, she never met the most genuine person in her life. All their late-night adventures, silly arguments, and untold secrets. Led up to this moment. The one that could change the course of their tight friendship. 

“I have something to tell you.” JJ said. 

“Oooh… Are you about to profess your _undying_ l ove for me?” Elle joked.

“Yes, I am.”

“.....What?”

“I love you, Elle Greenaway.” 

Elle looked like a deer in headlights. Her soft pink lips slightly parted as she gasped under her breath. After being in love with her best friend for so long, Elle’s feelings finally got reciprocated. 

“I love you too, Jennifer Jareau.” 

Joy and relief showed on JJ’s face. For once in her life, she felt sure about what she was doing. And this was something she wanted to last for a lifetime. 

Elle lightly brushed some hair out of JJ’s eyes. 

“I could stay here forever.” Elle said, softly caressing JJ’s cheek. Slowly, Elle brought her face close to JJ, their noses touching. Her lips softly grazed against JJ’s own, in anticipation of what was to happen next. 

Feelings a bit impatient, JJ closed the gap between herself and Elle, gently kissing and savoring their moment in time. After a few seconds, the two women parted, slightly out of breath. Closing her eyes, Elle placed her head on JJ’s left shoulder, a small smile appearing on the taller woman’s face. JJ wrapped her arms around Elle’s body, feeling the warmth engulf her. Both slowly drifted into a sound sleep, filled with dreams of what was to come next for their relationship. 


End file.
